Allowance for children

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2004
Allowance for children
8
Thu, 12-02-2004 - 4:22pm

Heather.head mentioned in a post that she gives her child a $1 per week allowance. I just read "Money Still Doesn't Grow On Trees" and it talked about teaching financial responsibility to children, but it was mostly for parents of teenagers. My dd is 4 1/2 and I think she's old enough to start learning about money. Like the mom in the other post who's dh buys the children a $2 surprise for behaving in the store, I used to buy my dd things whenever we went out. Then I narrowed it down to only a $5 gift, and now finally I can say to her "we are not buying a toy today, we didn't come to the store for that and we don't have extra money because we are saving for a house, and if you want that toy you need to tell Santa." She does have a piggy bank and she's been collecting change for a month or so.

So how much allowance should I give a 4 year old? The book I read said teach them to put 10% aside for charity, then divide it into thirds for current spending, medium-term spending (saving up for a barbie) and long-term spending. She's with me every other week, and with her dad every other week. Would $2 every other week be too much?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2003
Thu, 12-02-2004 - 4:59pm

Here is what I did with my 6 year old. I was told that a good amount of an allowance is 1/2 the child's age. So she got $3/week. Then she had 3 envelopes labeled Spend, Save, and Give. $.50 went into the Give envelope (more than 10%, but it was a nice round number). $1.25 then went into her Save envelope. The last $1.25 went into her Spend envelope. If she did not do her chores or was not good in school, money was taken away from her Spend envelope. She gave her Give money at church every week and her Save money was put into her Savings account. She could save/spend her spending money any way she wanted.

HTH!
Kathie

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 12-02-2004 - 5:15pm

Although we have a system that works for us now, I don't have the answers to all these questions. I wonder the same things myself, and I wonder what are the long term effects of the solutions we choose for today's problems.

I settled on $1 simply because it seemed an amount appropriate to the sorts of things ds was wanting at the store--candy, small toys, etc.--while at the same time being enough that he could feasibly save up and buy something exciting in a reasonable amount of time.

I like the idea of having them set money aside for charity. At first, I would think, I'd have them give it somewhere visible, such as tossing change in the giving boxes at so many restaurants and stores, or handing it to the salvation army santas. Ds already likes to put his money in the fun little donation "roller coasters" they have at some places--where you can watch your coins go down slides and around spirals, etc. He still doesn't conceptualize the relationship of money to things, and hasn't developed a hoarding instinct. For now I am simply nurturing his inherent generosity. I haven't yet started a systematized way of having him save for charity or larger things. I think at not-quite-four, it's a good start just to be accustomed to the feel of money, the act of exchanging it for things you want, the idea of it getting used up and not being bottomless, the necessity of keeping track of what you have, etc. Very simple concepts. I personally will probably wait for signs of readiness--understanding numbers, ability to add and subtract, an instinct to hoard (save), and other such things before making our arrangement any more formal. I would think different children would reach different stages of readiness at different ages.

As for the amount, I think $2 every two weeks is probably completely appropriate. Like for my ds, it's enough to buy a little treat now or something a little larger in a few weeks. If you're going to insist on savings and charity, I might give a little more than that.

I've also heard of people giving their children only a very minimal (or no) allowance, and then allowing them to do small chores (in *addition* to the chores they are expected to do as their basic contribution to the family's well-being) for additional funds. This seems like a decent system to me--it would teach them the work-to-money value ratio, and at the same time mean that when they want something that is not in your budget for them, you can suggest that they pay for it themselves. The people I've heard of doing this usually keep a list of ten-minute chores that need doing at any given time. They also say that their children's ideas of what they can live without adjust very quickly.

Those are just my thoughts for now. I look forward to hearing others.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-29-2003
Thu, 12-02-2004 - 5:21pm

My dd needs a paycut! I give my 5yo $5/wk.

My reasons:
-she buys her own toys, movies, and games. She has a GameCube that she got for her b-day, and I do NOT fund the games. She buys them herself, she will trade in her own games and then use her allowance for the difference. I also do not buy movies, so if she want a Disney DVD, that is up to her or wait until grandma feels sorry for her enough to buy it.

I have a long list of chores for her (within reason). Things on her daily list look like this:
-brush teeth after EACH meal
-get dress and brush own hair each morning after breakfast (the hair is a tough one)
-pick up room and make bed
-help with putting away dishes & laundry
-help with vacuum & dusting
-help clean up the toys downstairs (I have a home daycare)
-do schoolwork (homeschool)
-pick up after herself in general
-help with hand washing of the littler kids before meals/snack

I guess I have alot for her to do, but then she gets a hefty allowance in return. She saves her money to buy stuff I am not willing to buy.

Sola

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-26-2004
Fri, 12-03-2004 - 9:55am

Wow - this is a great discussion!

 

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2004
Fri, 12-03-2004 - 10:36am
I don't think you stop buying all little things. I think you decide there are some things that will come out of the allowance. The book I read said kids learn by having fixed expenses as well as cash for discretionary spending. If all you give kids money for is fun stuff, then they don't learn how to pay bills and be responsible. I forget at what age, but I think the book talked about adding up things like the child's lunch money and fun money and maybe some other stuff. One parent said he did this and his child bought pizza for all his friends the first day, then he had to pack a lunch (something the child found embarrasing) the rest of the week because he didn't have any money left. After that, he used his money more wisely. For older kids, the book talked about giving them enough money twice a year to buy clothes. If they wanted to spend it on other stuff, fine it is their choice, but they have to live with the choice too.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Fri, 12-03-2004 - 2:06pm
I give my 7yo $5 a week, too, but only if she actually earned it by doing the things I ask of her. While we were getting ready to move, I even gave her $10 a week, because she was helping a lot. Now she doesn't ask me for candy bars every time we go to the store, and she saves her money for bigger ticket items, too. I don't have her giving to charity or anything like that, but she is still obviously learning the value of money and hard work. I think in the long run, I end up saving by giving her an allowance, since she uses it to buy stuff I would probably buy for her anyway. Heather
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Fri, 12-03-2004 - 4:23pm
Actually, I think it sounds like you've got a good system. If he's understanding the value of money and he's not asking for everything under the sun, you're probably doing just fine. I think everyone has to do what makes sense for their family. I really believe there's no right or wrong way to do it.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-21-2004
Fri, 12-03-2004 - 7:58pm
Well guess I'm the only one here so far that didn't give my kids an allowance till a certain age. And the only reason I give my oldest son an allowance is because it's tied in with his chores. He gets $5 a week. Plus I also give him money for his report cards. I give him $1 for every A and $.50 for every B. And lately he has been getting on the A/B Honor Roll so I just round up his report card money to an even $5. Its like getting a bonus for doing well. I am trying to teach my kids that money comes from working and isn't received by doing nothing. Not that giving a 3 or 4 year old an allowance is bad just not what I'm doing with my kids. I love some of the ideas on here who have split their childrens allowance into different catergories esp the charity one. I would have never thought of that one and think I'm going to implement it myself.